Our Story
The lodge was purchased in 2003 with the specific goal of being an income-generating subdivision of Health Education Africa Resource Team (HEART). It is a complementing ‘for profit’ arm of HEART.
HEART’s vision is to empower the people of Africa to survive and to thrive beyond the HIV/AIDS pandemic by providing nutrition, shelter, medical care, education, psycho-social services, protection and income-generating activities for HIV positive mothers and their children.
We hire only Kenyan staff in the lodge and the HEART ministry.
Learn more about HEART and our projects:
HEART’S FOUNDER
HEART was founded by Vickie Winkler, a Registered Nurse from the United States of America. Vickie and her husband, together with their daughter, lived in Kenya from 1979-83 working as teachers and missionaries. Vickie established the network that now facilitates the work of HEART and that has extended greatly over the three decades.
Vickie returned to Kenya many times bringing educators and conducting public health workshops and building relationships throughout the country. Her conviction of the need for these grass-roots level education efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic in rural Kenya led her to make a full-time commitment to this effort, through the founding of HEART in February of 2000.
Please visit www.africaheart.com for more information about the ministry.